Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — The United States has renewed unmanned aerial vehicle strikes against Al Qaida in Somalia.

Officials said a senior Al Qaida operative was killed in a U.S. unmanned aerial strike in southern Somalia.

The officials said the strike marked the renewal of combat UAV operations against the Al Qaida-aligned Shebab movement.

“The operation in which this man has been killed was very important for the government,” Somali Interior Minister Abdul Karim Hussein Guled said.

The target was identified as Ibrahim Al Abdi, known by his nomme de guerre Anta Anta. Officials said Al Abdi, a specialist in car bombs, was commander of suicide operations for Shebab.

“This man had a major role in the death of many innocent civilians, and
his death will help in bringing back peace,” Guled told Radio Mogadishu on
Oct. 29.

The United States did not claim responsibility for the UAV strike,
believed conducted by a Predator B platform. The U.S. Special
Operations Command has been overseeing combat UAV operations against Al
Qaida from bases in Djibouti and Ethiopia.

Officials said the UAV strike in Somalia took place on Oct. 28. They
said the government in Mogadishu has approved UAV attacks on Shebab
commanders.

This marked the second U.S. counter-insurgency operation in Somalia in
October 2013. On Oct. 5, the U.S. SEALS raided the home of Shebab leader
Mukhtar Abu Zubayr in a failed attack. The SEALS were believed to have used
UAVs in the operation in the southern port of Barawe, deemed a stronghold of
Shebab.

  Abdul Karim Hussein Guled, Anta Anta, Ibrahim Al Abdi, U.S. drone strike said to have killed senior Al Qaida leader in Somalia, U.S. Special Operations Command